Gear: Explosives

Explosives

Explosives in the Verge are usually SMES units specifically engineered to overload and structurally fail. The interaction of the energy-storing magnetic field with the field generating current violently blows the SMES apart with more explsoive force than an equivalent weight of chemical explosives. A detonating SMES charge is characterized by an initial blue-white arc flash followed by the usual fireball and blast wave. SMES explosive charges are generally made in the same general sizes as SMES for electricity sources, although for safety reasons they are engineered so that they do not interface with standard SMES connections and recepticles. They may also be manufactured in other sizes and configurations for special purpose applications.

For large-scale demolition, collapse explosives may be used instead of energized SMESs. These exploit the immense pressures of a collapsing wormhole to drive boron-11 enriched boric acid to undergo proton-boron fusion, while recycling the radiated bremsstrahlung within the periodic wormhole geometry to re-heat the fusing mass. When the reaction products are ejected into flat space-time just before the wormhole finally pinches off (scant microseconds after the collapse is initiated), the exhaust plasma produces a searing radiant flash, blast wave, and fireball without annoying penetrating radiation or radioacivity.

The collapse explosive wormhole has two ends. The business end is relatively low mass, and is the part that goes boom. The other end is in a much more massive anchor, which includes all the amchinery for maintaining the wormhole. After the wormhole is collapsed, the anchor can be re-used and a new wormhole set up with a new explsoive end for 1⁄100th the price.

Despite very liberal laws in the Verge Republic allowing citizens to keep and bear arms, collapse explosives are still illegal to own without extensive background checks, licensing, and government oversight of their use. In civilized areas, causality controls are able to detect unauthorized wormholes connecting within the controlled area. Suspected collapse explosives will be subject to police action and/or a causality attack to break the wormhole. Until armed, collapse explosives are designed to be fail-safe. A forced collapse of an unarmed charge will just spray a supersonic jet of boron, oxygen, and hydrogen vapor for a few wormhole diameters rather than initiating a fusion reaction.

  • Pinhead Charge: A tiny explosive charge the size of a large pinhead.
    Blast: Pen -8 RS, base Range Score -5, Sharp +9
    Contact: Pen 1.2, Wound +1½, Sharp +9

    Mass: 50 mg
    Price: $1 for a package of 1000

  • Button Charge: A small, flat, round explosive cap about the size and shape of a dime.
    Blast: Pen -4½ RS, base Range Score -3, Sharp +9
    Contact: Pen 4, Wound +5¼, Sharp +9

    Mass: 2 g
    Price: $4 for a package of 100

  • Stick Charge: A cylindrical explosive charge about the size of a modern AA battery
    Blast: Pen -1¼ RS, base Range Score -1, Sharp +9
    Contact: Pen 9, Wound +7½, Sharp +9

    Mass: 20 g
    Price: $4 for a package of 10

  • Canister Charge: A cylindrical explosive charge about the size of a modern D-cell battery
    Blast: Pen +¾ RS, base Range Score +1, Sharp +9
    Contact: Pen 18, Wound +9¾, Sharp +9

    Mass: 0.2 kg
    Price: $4

  • Pack Charge: An explosive charge about the size and shape of a water bottle ("roll charge") or paperback book ("book charge").
    Blast: Pen +2¼ RS, base Range Score +2, Sharp +9
    Contact: Pen 32, Wound +11½, Sharp +9

    Mass: 1 kg
    Price: $20

  • Mag Charge: An explosive chage about the size and shape of a toaster.
    Blast: Pen +4½ RS, base Range Score +3, Sharp +9
    Contact: Pen 70, Wound +13¾, Sharp +9

    Mass: 10 kg
    Price: $200

  • Block Collapse Charge: A collapse-geometry explosive contained in a package the size of a tube of lipstick. The far end of the wormhole is kept in a 3 kg anchor, which contains the machinery for maintaining the wormhole.
    Blast: Pen +8¼ RS, base Range Score +7, Sharp +9
    Contact: Pen 280, Wound +18¼, Sharp +9
    Thermal Pulse: Burn Pen +13 RS at 1 m

    Mass: 30 g
    Price: $3 k

  • Engineering Collapse Charge: A collapse explosive for large scale demolition. Its anchor has a mass of 1 ton.
    Blast: Pen +14 RS, base Range Score +10, Sharp +9
    Contact: Pen 2000, Wound +24, Sharp +9
    Thermal Pulse: Burn Pen +27 RS at 1 m

    Mass: 10 kg
    Price: $1 M

  • Geo-Engineering Collapse Charge: A collapse explosive for re-arranging the entire landscape.. The anchor has a mass of 1,000 tons.
    Blast: Pen +22¼ RS, base Range Score +15, Sharp +9
    Contact: Pen 20000, Wound +31, Sharp +9
    Thermal Pulse: Burn Pen +44 RS at 1 m

    Mass: 10 tons
    Price: $1000 M

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